Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Lydden Hill to host opener
Electric-powered rallycross cars will take on their internal combustion counterparts when Lydden Hill’s new season starts over the Easter weekend, writes Dan Wright.
Belgian star Viktor Vranckx and father-and-son team Steve and Jake Harris are due to drive battery-powered machines at the opening round of the British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy.
They will line up alongside conventional Supercars in the headline category - the first time this has happened in the UK. Vranckx, the reigning FIA RX2E champion, will drive the electric four-wheel-drive 250kw RX2E machine he handled last season.
The Harris family, meanwhile, will share a Mini Countryman which has been converted from petrol to electric by Austrian company STARD. Vranckz said: “I’m very excited to race in 5 Nations BRX at Lydden Hill, the first time an electric car will be raced in the Supercar category.
“I had an amazing first season in RX2E last year. To start my 2023 rallycross season at Lydden Hill, where I went many times as a kid in the paddock, and to race in the Easter weekend event will be very special for me and my family.”
Adisham’s Tristan Ovenden and Sittingbourne’s Mike Sellar - both driving Citroen DS3S - will take on the electric-powered machines, joining returning Latvian Roberts Vitols (Citroen C4) and Jack Thorne (Peugeot 208). All British Rallycross classes will begin over the Easter weekend, with racing held on Saturday and Monday. In the Junior category, Tristan’s son Will enters the campaign as title favourite after finishing third overall in last year’s standings. Ovenden, 16, said: “We’ve been testing at Lydden a few times on the tarmac circuit and everything has been going well so far. The car feels good, it will have a new livery for this season and I’m really looking forward to getting started.
“I’m going to throw everything at this year using what I learned last season, and see where that takes us.”